Pluto moving through the signs (it was in Capricorn from 2008 until the end of December of this year) irrevocably changes those things that are ruled by that sign. Capricorn rules institutions, among other things, and although Pluto has entered Aquarius now, it briefly goes back into Capricorn later this year.
As we enter 2024, it appears the U.S. Supreme Court is no longer an institution that most Americans would recognize. This past week the Court agreed to hear a case brought by Donald Trump that he is immune from prosecution for any crimes committed while in office. When the case was heard before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, Judge Florence Pan asked Trump's attorney if a president who ordered SEAL Team 6 to assasinate a political rival could be criminally prosecuted. The attorney answered that such a president could not be prosecuted unless he was first impeached, convicted and removed by Congress.
That was too much for the Court of Appeals, who unanimously turned down Trump's claim of immunity. The Supreme Court could simply have affirmed or denied certiorari, but instead they accepted the case, pushing the trial against Trump for his actions on January 6th way back on the calendar, so that we may not hear the case before the November election. In doing this, the Supreme Court as we once knew it, a body of jurists devoted to upholding the law of the land, no longer exists. Or as one commenter on a Washington Post article noted: Are 5 SCOTUS judges actually stupid enough to rule that a president could order them killed or tortured or pick your crime? The Republican party as we knew it also no longer exists as Pluto finishes its transit through Capricorn.
So what will Pluto in Aquarius bring? Aquarius rules technology. Sometimes there is a person who ends up personifying a particular astrological theme. I would like to nominate Sam Altman as the person who we could consider the avatar for Pluto in Aquarius and the changes it will bring. Altman is the CEO of Open AI. Open AI is a U.S. based artifical intelligence research organization, founded with the goal of developing safe and beneficial artificial intelligence. Elon Musk, along with Sam Altman and others founded Open AI in 2015. Musk left Open AI in 2018.
Altman has a chart in which Pluto is very prominent. Altman has zero Taurus rising, with Sun at 2 Taurus on the Ascendant oppose Pluto at 3 Scorpio on the Descendant. This is an angular Pluto in its own sign of Scorpio, so very powerful. His Moon is in late Taurus conjunct Mars oppose Saturn in the 7th house. The nodal access is near this opposition from Taurus to Scorpio. In his 12th house he has a Venus Mercury conjunction in Aries in the 12th house, which is things that are hidden. Venus Mercury is square to Neptune, possibly causing some level of deception.
On March 1st, Elon Musk filed a suit against Sam Altman, and Open AI,et al. This case is about the alleged failure of Altman and others to keep to the original Certificate of Incorporation which stated that Open AI was to be a non-profit formed for the benefit of humanity, and would remain open sourced. (see page 37 of case). As we all read last Thanksgiving, the Open AI Board fired Sam Altman on Nov. 17th for not being consistently candid with the Board. Note Altman's Venus Mercury in the 12th square Neptune.
Microsoft (who has a license with a subsidiary of Open AI that was for profit, but which only allowed licensing of pre-AGI (artificial general intelligence)) then stepped in and offered Altman and others a job at Microsoft. The upshot was that Altman was rehired by Open AI on Nov. 21, 2023, and the Open AI Board was replaced by a Board that was more favorable to commercialization of AI, which Musk and many other scientists fear will not be beneficial to humanity if done without appropriate guard rails. Musk is arguing that with GPT-4, Open AI has achieved AGI and therefore Open AI should not be allowing Microsoft access to the technology, and that Open AI needs to make the technology open and freely available. There is no current legal definition of what constitutes AGI.
Musk alleged many causes of action, including breach of contract, promissory estoppel (he had invested $44 million in Open AI and helped it get going in other ways), unfair business practices, and breach of fiduciary duty. The lawsuit seeks specific performance as well as a judicial determination that GPT-4 is artificial general intelligence and thus outside the scope of Microsoft's license with Open AI. As noted above, Musk is insistent that the technology should remain open sourced rather than held in private by a company such as Microsoft. Musk did at one time hope to use the technology with his other companies, but that should not detract from the current litigation as it raises important questions about the future use of AI.
Artificial general intelligence or AGI is one of the things that has given technologists and others to call for a pause in its development as we really don't know the consequences. Generative AI, which is what Chat GPT refers to technologies that can generate text, sounds and images from short prompts. Its use could spread online disinformation or even replace jobs performed by humans.
During Thanksgiving weekend 2023, when Altman was fired and then reinstated, Saturn was sextile his Ascendant, trine his Descendant, and Sun and Mars were in Scorpio conjunct his Moon Mars and oppose his 7th house Saturn. The Sun Mars on his Moon Mars shows the power struggle. Saturn trine to his Descendant likely represents the assistance he received from Microsoft and most of his employees, who all signed an open letter calling for his reinstatement.
Uranus was at 20 Taurus, triggering his nodal axis. Uranus can rule sudden changes, which this back and forth clearly was.
Sam Altman's Solar Return for 2023 has Pluto at zero Aquarius in the 7th house, which represents business partners as well as marriage partners. Altman married Oliver Mulherin in January of 2024. Pluto in the 7th often indicates a change in relationship status.
2024 will see Pluto again in square by transit to his Ascendant/Descendant, and also square to his 2 degrees Taurus Sun. On March 1st, the day the suit was filed, Altman's progressed Moon was at 0 Scorpio, exactly conjunct his Descendant, and will in a few months conjunct his Pluto in the 7th.
The SEC is also investigating Open AI seeking information about the firing of Altman. By following this litigation, we can see how Pluto in Aquarius plays out both in the chart of Altman and for the use of artificial general intelligence.
